(Daniel) Today I wanted to show my Mother the beautiful nature that amongst other qualities makes Laos so special.  There are many waterfalls around Luang Prabang, but my intimate knowledge of Kuang Si and its secret pools and climbs made it the only choice to take Mum to.  In addition to this compelling reason, was the arguably more important motive of finding my watch since visiting there a couple of days ago and loosing it in one of the pools, this would be my last chance to try and find my favourite possession.

Nii and I drive across town to Mum’s guesthouse, she had been awake since early in the morning, having been woken by the Monks beginning the Alms ceremony that they carry out every morning at around four o’clock, she then stayed awake for another hour, going out to see the streams of Monks collecting the food offerings or Alms.  Buddhists believe that they build positive Karma by helping a monk to live, and therefore continue in their quest to achieve enlightenment, or at least the level of Arahant or other non-reincarnating being.  The helping of a novice monk or lower level monk is worth very little in the scheme of things, but in the Buddhist way of thinking the amount of Karma can be multiplied millions of times by only a few jumps up the enlightenment path.  Thus the providing of a single Alms offering to an Arahant Monk would provide enough Karma for a hundred lifetimes of comfort and happiness.

Over breakfast I told Mum about the plan for the day, the restaurant carried the Vientianne Times, which had published a story on the Expedition, but on checking their copy, it wasn’t in today’s edition.  I emailed Nick via the cafe free wireless service to let him know about this for our press page on the site.  Then we climbed in the car driving out of town onto the new road to Kuang Si.

When I first visited Kuang Si, with Rowan and Gabby in 2000 the Waterfall was untouched and hardly visited.  There was a rescued Tiger called Phet kept in an enclosure sperated off from the woods, and I remember well being stalked by her as we walked through the forest to the falls.  Phet is still there after all these years, but many things have changed.  There is a bear enclosure also, and bridges and signs have been erected everywhere telling you where you can and can’t swim.

On my first visit I left Rowan and Gabby at the bottom, climbing high up to the top of the falls, where I found a secret pool which overlooked the whole area.  You could climb down to it across some steep rocks, eventually coming out in a paradise comparable to any movie set.  I have come back to Kuang Si six times since that first visit, and everytime have made the climb back up the hill to the secret pool, these times I brought friends, kicking and screaming at the horrendous vertical climb only to thank me for showing them what could be one of the most beautiful waterfalls in the world.

We arrived at the falls to the usual interested stares and questions about where we came from and what we are doing.  I knew that the Wolf would be safe amongst the assembled tuc tuc drivers waiting the standard three hours for their groups of 3-6 passengers.  I grabbed my gloves, snorkel, mask and fins, we also took some cold beers and drinks from the trailer, then set off into the forest.

First stop was a visit to see Phet the tiger, she was busy eating in her enclosure, and didn’t want to come out and play. Two days before, I had visited here with Nii, and on seeing Phet recalled to Nii a story about the Tigers stalking me on my first visit here in 2000, some Aussies standing next to us overheard me.  With an air of disbelief, they challenged me to get her to chase me again.  I declined at first, but at the satisfied look on their faces, decided to give it a try.

I looked the huge Tiger straight in the eyes, trying to give the impression of fear, then ducked suddenly as if I had panicked, Phet’s eyes followed me, she took on the stance of a house cat that has just seen a mouse.  I waited for a second, then broke and ran at full pace along the edge of the flimsy wire fence that separated the enclosure from the rest of the forest.  As I approached the corner, silent and stealthy, Phet leapt from behind me, landing next to me with a primal growling noise from deep inside her huge body. I turned the corner, running faster downhill, along the fence to the other end of the area.  This time Phet slowed down a little, obviously enjoying the chase.  I feinted twice, and ran back past her to the area where I had started.  The Aussies looked suitably impressed with the show, as did Nii.  For me the pleasure came only from the feeling of running with one of the worlds most beautiful and impressive predators, in play, as another Tiger would run with her.  An exhilarating experience to say the least!

After the Tigers enclosure, we walked to the first pool, the blue water luminescent from some mineral content. We swam here for a while, then moved on to the next pool.  A rope swing hung from a tree over the deep part of the pool, and some English guys were cautiously jumping off.  Having been here so many times, I knew the way to jump from the top of the tree to get the most air, and managed to pull off an impressive flip.  Then persuaded Nii to jump off the waterfall itself.  Something that she would never have done before this trip.

After this pool, we walked further along the track to the main fall.  This was the first of the two places I had wanted to visit.  Since coming here with Warren and Simon a couple of months ago, and copying Simons Daredevil jump from the top of the huge falls into the splash pool below.  A group of Thai tourists stood around the pool, and watched as I climbed the steep rocks at the side of the raging water.  They called up for me not to jump, waving there hands and looking frightened at the prospect of a dead body to pull out of the water.  I paused for a moment, unsure myself at whether to jump off into the turbulent water below.  Then I jumped, for second my stomach refused to move, hanging in mid air as I formed my best Spiderman impression, then the water came rushing towards me, followed by a bang and the sensation of being turned over several times.  For a moment I didn’t know which way to push, but then my senses returned to me, and I kicked for the surface.  The group of tourists were clapping, and cheering.

I climbed up one more time, and jumped again.  This time I didn’t hesitate, jumping as high as possible, the effect was a lot like flying.  The seconds of falling felt like minutes, then I was underwater again, climbing the bubbles for the surface.  As I emerged I could see the guard coming.  He told me that there was no jumping or swimming on the big falls, a fact which I was well aware of, no worries for me though, I had my videos of the jump.  All that I had wanted from the jump, having done it many times before, but never had anyone to video it for me!

Having finished the big jump, it was time to make the big climb to the secret pool at the top.  I explained to Mum that this wouldn’t be easy, then started up the pathway to the side of the falls.  The climb was long and steep, occasionally becoming little more than tree roots and footholds cut out of the steep banks.  We saw the usual groups searching for the rumoured secret pool area in vain, usually on the way down, with warnings that it was not there or could not be found.  I knew the truth however and pressed on, reassuring the others that the climb would be worth the wait!

At the top we crossed over the falls, then dropped down again onto the otherside, where we took a turning off the path through the trees to a narrow gap between the rocks leading down to the pool.  At the bottom it all became clear to Mum, the climb and effort was more than worth it when you saw the beauty of the spot.  Water fell from high rocks down into pools surrounded by caves leading back up into the limestone cliffs.  At the bottom a deep splash pool hung over the huge falls below, with a rock lip that gave a view of the whole area to anyone who sat alongside it.        

I put on my fins and mask, diving straight into the pool to look for my watch.  I swam around for thirty minutes, diving down to look at the bottom for my favourite possession.  I had lost this watch before in Laos, leaving it in a bathroom of a guesthouse in the North country, then returning to the area a few weeks later, and offering a reward of $2.  Sure enough my watch came back to me that day, as a small child on a bike rode up to me at the bus stop before I left for Thailand.  The same watch has travelled around the world everywhere with me, and had been lost in similar ways several other times, always finding it’s way back to me. On my last trip to the falls, I had worn the watch, realising halfway through the day that it was gone from my arm.  Strangely I did not feel so bad about losing the watch here, I had owned and loved it for 10 years, since my Boss had made me buy it at 18 years old.  It was made of titanium, and had a quality that I have not been able to find in another watch since.  But this was a good way to loose a precious possession, doing things that I didn’t believe I could do, and in a place that anyone would appreciate being laid to rest.

I gave up then, the silt at the bottom of the pool had surely swallowed my watch meaning it would never be found.  It’s final resting place one that I will remember for life.  I took off the fins and mask, and enjoyed my time here with Nii and my Mum.  The way down from the pool was much easier. Although it didn’t look it, the smaller falls to the side of the main one had formed steps which could be climbed down to reach the pathway further down.  On the way we turned off again to visit a second lower level pool.  Here a cave sat underneath the falls which could be reached by swimming through the fierce water.  I swam into the cave to find that people had carved their names everywhere.

As we left the falls, I felt like the day had been very special already, and that a dinner in a restaurant would not do it justice.  We decided to make our own dinner, stopping at the big Market outside Luang Prabang to buy a live chicken.  I tried to find the road to the smaller river Nam Khan that ran behind the city.  I must have taken a wrong turning as I found the River, but at a private property which looked like it was under development of some kind.  A man approached us on a motorbike from across the land.  He was foreign, and introduced himself as the land owner. He was Swiss and surprisingly also called Daniel.  He loved the Wolf, and invited us into his compound, which he said they were developing to make Eco-Bungalows.  These would be made purely of Bamboo, as was the fencing, gate and bridge that he had already made.

We drove into the picturesque spot, parking up next to the river.  Nii began to prepare a curry while I slaughtered the chicken and hung it up to drain the blood.  Mum got chatting with Daniel and his friends, who we furnished with some cold beers from the trailer.  We invited the boys to join us for dinner, eating on a platform overlooking the river.  Afterwards I lit an emergency flare for fun, we watched the bright red flare burn for ten minutes, then said thanks to our hosts, and returned to Luang Prabang and our Hotels for bed!

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